Everything I Need to Know
by Michelle Lancaster
Summary: My version of the poem 'Credo' aka 'Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten', with Harry Potter references. All quotes and HP things belong to the great JK Rowling!


**Everything I Need to Know I Learned from _Harry Potter_**

Love is the most powerful force in the world.

Some things are more important than rules, or even more important than homework.

You can't learn everything out of a book.

Be nice to your enemies—they might grow up to be your kid's teachers.

People who just seem weird are always much deeper.

"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters."

Don't believe everything you read in the paper.

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

If you don't ask out your crush, someone else will do it first.

The line between genius and madness is blurred.

"Christmas is a time for family."

Seekers get the glory, but they also get beaten up.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Closing your eyes to the problems of the world only makes it more difficult to face them when you inevitably must.

"If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better."

"One can never have enough socks."

"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

The truth is beautiful and terrible.

People aren't always who they say they are.

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

Having money and power doesn't make you a better person.

"A promise is a promise."

"It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

No one can predict the future, not even with a crystal ball.

"When a wizard goes over ter the dark side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to 'em anymore."

Monsters don't make good pets.

Evil never dies.

Death can't take anyone out of your heart.

Lord Voldemort knows when you're lying to him, and so does Albus Dumbledore.

More often than not, a Grim is just a big, black dog.

Do what you love in life.

You never know what tomorrow will bring.

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage."

"Courage in the face of the unknown is a very important quality."

Some people will only like you because you're famous, others will only like you because you're good looking.

"Play your strengths."

True friends bring you your homework when you're in the hospital wing with a tail and fur.

No one knows everything, and everyone makes mistakes.

No one knows every secret of Hogwarts—except maybe the Marauders.

Don't let your career keep you away from your family; your son might turn out to be a Death Eater.

"Curiosity is not a sin."

Watch out for Veela… if you're male, that is.

Look death in the face standing on your own feet.

The full moon can make you do strange things.

"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

Lack of confidence can turn a decent Keeper into the opponents' king.

Just because you're allies, you can't always be friends.

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

Some things go too deep to ever let go of.

Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers never last more than a year.

Werewolves aren't all bad, and neither are half-giants and convicted mass murderers on the run.

Beauty is on the outside; value is on the inside.

Don't try to do more than one class at the same time… even Hermione can't handle it.

Indifference can do more harm than hatred, so keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Respect nature's animals and plants, especially if they have tempers like Fluffy and the Whomping Willow.

Unshakable loyalty is hard to give, but equally important to.

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

Names, titles and appearances can be deceiving.

Those who love Quidditch love it a lot.

Although they might seem it at times, girls are not more dangerous than Hungarian Horntails; at least, not usually.

Skill, logic, and even magic can only take you so far—the rest is up to your nerves and your luck.

Like father, like son… well, sometimes.

"The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at one's leisure."

The best weapon against fear is laughter.

Twelve years in Azkaban will give anyone a bad hair day.

Make sure your loved ones know what they mean to you, because they may not be here tomorrow.

Life's not fair.

Nothing is simple.

Some things are worse than death.

"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."

Book smarts don't equal common sense or even common human decency.

There is a difference between theory and practice, between fighting for a grade and fighting for your life.

"There are things worth dying for."

It's better to die as a friend than to live as a traitor.

They're still there, but hiding, just beyond the veil.


End file.
